New York City Defense Lawyers Are Standing by to Help Fight Embezzlement Charges
Definition of Embezzlement
EMBEZZLEMENT is the fraudulent conversion of another’s property by a person in a position of trust. Such a person includes employees, agents, and corporate officers. The accused must have the intent to defraud the owner property at the time of conversion. The property in question must have value, while the specific amount is not as important. This type of white-collar crime can carry serious consequences including fines and in some cases a prison term.
If you are under suspicion of, or have been arrested on embezzlement charges, seek legal counsel from the best Federal Criminal law firm available.
Embezzlement is a form of larceny and falls under that statute at §155 of the Penal Code. This crime most often occurs when an “insider” in a corporation or organization is entrusted with the funds of the group and does not live up to their fiduciary responsibility by siphoning off some of the funds or property for their own benefit. In essence they steal the property of the organization that they have been placed in charge of.
This crime is considered a “white collar” crime in that it usually occurs within a business setting and the theft is by perhaps doctoring accounts or siphoning money in some stealthy fashion. It may take the corporation or organization some time to find out about the crime because it is often done in small amounts taken over time and covered up in some accounting fashion. Usually the amounts that are stolen are not small, although can be, and cases that are discussed in the media often go into the millions or possibly billions of dollars. The victim corporation or organization may eventually find out about the crime during an accountancy audit or even an IRS audit, or they may suddenly find a shortfall in some of their accounts. All of this makes embezzlement a difficult crime to prosecute and also a complex crime to defend.
When charged or suspected of embezzlement a defendant needs to find a law firm such as the Law Office of Bukh & Associates, PLLC that have the experience, the knowledge and the access to the forensic accounting experts to prepare an excellent and successful defense.
Embezzlement Charges Prosecution
As always in a criminal charge, the prosecution has to prove its case “beyond a reasonable doubt”. The elements that they must prove in embezzlement are:
- That the defendant has specific intent to “cause the property to be withheld from the rightful owner either long enough for it to lose value or permanently”.
- That the defendant has specific intent to “control the property long enough for it to lose value, have a third party gain this control, or control the property permanently”.
Embezzlement Lawyer Never Sits Without Work These Days
This burden is quite difficult due to the fact that money or other property can be hidden in many different ways and for that reason prosecution teams have experts in these areas ready to pursue the charges.
New York: Embezzlement Laws and Sentencing Guidelines
Embezzlement is codified as follows in the New York Penal Code:
§155.05 Larceny Defined
1. A person steals property and commits larceny when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate the same to himself or to a third person, he wrongfully takes, obtains or withholds such from an owner thereof.
§155.05 (2)(a) – Embezzlement
2. Larceny includes a wrongful taking, obtaining or withholding of another person’s property, with the intent prescribed in subdivision one of this section, committed in any of the following ways:
(a) By conduct heretofore defined or known as common law larceny by trespassory taking, common law larceny by trick, embezzlement, or obtaining property by false pretenses.
EMBEZZLEMENT PENALTIES
Larceny like many other charges has different levels and in the case of embezzlement the level of the crime is determined by the value of the property taken. For instance if the amount is beyond one thousand dollars this will be fourth degree, a Class E Felony, and conversely if the amount is above one million dollars it will first degree larceny which is a Class B Felony.
The penalties for embezzlement also get tougher with the degree of the crime. Grand larceny from Class E to Class B felonies can carry jail time of 3 years up to 24 years in addition to fines which the court may impose.
Like other forms of larceny, embezzlement carries some severe penalties with high fines and restitution added on to jail time. Unlike other forms of larceny, embezzlement is a specialized crime which needs a specialized defense. Working on an embezzlement case means that the defense attorney and his team have a certain experience in business crimes that involve complex accounting and financial issues. If someone is seeking a criminal defense attorney for this type of charge, they need to look to a firm that has the expertise and experience that the prosecution team has and has the ability to handle each such white collar crime on an individual basis. That firm is Law Office of Bukh & Associates, PLLC and Arkady Bukh and we are here and can be contacted at any time of day, seven days a week.
Embezzlement charges are based on allegations of abuse of power, but you may feel powerless if you’re charged.
Let a New York criminal defense attorney help you defend against charges for embezzlement. Attorneys are available at 800-601-0207 any time, so call now.
